Excellent Ecxellent
19 April 2008
First hotel we're stayed in that we are planning to go back to
Accomadation: Apartment is standard, this is great if you have jids as you have separate lounge area, with mini kitchen. Nice bathroom/balcony.
Food: So so, i have had better in AI before, a bit bland, but plenty of it, we ate out 2 of the 9 nights for a bit a variation.
Location: Very quite a few shops/bars 5mins walk down the road. Taxis to los gigantes only couple of euro. There is a small black beach a couple of mins away as well.
Drink: Excellent, self service, good choice, free cocktail available every night. AI guests get discount on big brand drinks and cocktails.
Entertanment: Had better and worse, we had a magician, parott show, arobats, couple of shows where they get the guest up to participate.
Kids: Brillant for kids free tubs of ice cream , good entertainment, kids club get cater more for younger children.
MISC: 4 different pools, never had to resevre a sun bed, mixed nationalites, mainly german, spanlish, rest french/UK. Quite mixed ages.
alison healy, glasgow
Family with Children 11 and Under
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excellent value
04 January 2008
Just back from a week at Barcelo Varadero and have no hesitation in recommending it for good clean, comfortable accomodation. I opted for all inclusive enjoyed the quality and variety of good food. The hotel is situated about a 40 minute drive from Teneriffe South airport and I used the transport link from Alpharooms for the airport transfers - only 19euros each way. I found the staff very courteous and helpful. The resort appears to get better weather than Playa de Americas and Los Cristianos.. each day they got clouds at 2pm and Los Gigantes was clear skies. Over the 7 days we had sunshine and temps of over 21 degrees. No problem with getting sunbeds. The hotel location is more remote and less lively and definitely more family orientated. The hotel staff seemed to have a very good set up for children's entertainment during day and had junior entertainment hour each evening.
Los Gigantes is only 5euros away by taxi and is a lovely harbour resort. Did a boat trip to see dolphins and whales which only cost 10 euros and it was a great experience.. but a little bumpy at times. In summary, this hotel is well worth a visit if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing holiday away from the crowds. The resort seems to get better weather. It is a hilly location but transport costs are cheap.
ronan, ireland
Solo Traveller
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BargaIn Holiday
11 August 2007
What a great value for money hotel! Had a great time. Hotel delivers comfortable accommodation, plentiful food (may not be 'Cordon Bleu'), fantastic self service bar - no queues waiting for drinks, and the best coffee ever from a machine! Lovely grounds with nice pools and lots of sunbeds. We went high season and could always get a bed. Wouldn't recommend hotel if you have walking difficulties as it is in a very hilly location. Very quiet, small resort but ideal for us. Walked into Puerto Santiago which took about 20 minutes and took a taxi into Los Gigantes. Overall had a great holiday and would not hesitate to go back there or recommend to anyone.
The Prophet Family, Lancashire
Family with teenagers 12+
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
28 December 2006
Hotel set in quiet location. Clean and comfortable rooms. Friendly staff. Food a bit hit and miss with 2 theme nights. Three swimming pools one heated but the heating was not working when we were there and the water in all 3 was very cold. Lots of different nationalities with majority German. Minus points woken up at 7am by cleaners trolleys every morning may be a ploy to get you out of bed to clean rooms. Would probably not use hotel again.
Harry Wallis, Evanton/Scotland
Solo Traveller
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
24 October 2006
we normally have a weekend break every two months and i have to rate this hotel one of the best more of a 4 star really. the staff are wonderful, food good and entertainment good. i would advise clients to take the fully inclusive option as it is well worth it. the apartments are spotless only one thing missing a hairdryer!!! childrens entertainment was non stop and the pools are heated. will beback next month for our break.
lorraine dunlop, golf del sur tenerife
Group of Mature Friends/Couples
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
22 June 2006
The hotel is very clean, reception staff most helpful and the 'apartment' was clean though fairly basic. No kettle or toaster and no utensils to cook anything in the oven with. There is a T.V. to catch up on Sky News. Air conditioning (which takes a bit of working out) and comfortable furniture to sit on.
Towels are replenished daily and maid service is 5 days a week. We were a little wary of our valuables as the patio doors are not very secure and if you have a sea view you also have to contend with the noise from the traffic as it is on a main road.
Perhaps we are a little critical as we have our own place in a quieter area but stayed there as our siblings were in our apartment.
The pool areas are excellent with 3/4 pools, plenty of very comfortable sun beds, a poolside bar and pool games etc for the kids, also evening entertainment as well as organised entertainment during the day for anyone who cares to participate.
If you are a family of four (i.e. 2 adults, 2 kids) the sofa bed pulls our to make 2 singles with plenty of space around.
Lovely area worth visiting with plenty of bars and restaurants and a clean 'black' beach 5 minutes walk away.
Enjoy.
Liz Ducker, Beverley, England
Mature Couple (36+)
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
10 April 2006
Great hotel, the first week we stayed there was not too busy a week and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, although the place was starting to get busier and slightly less enjoyable on the last couple of days (stayed for 9 days). The hotel welcomes a lot of different nationalities, probably mainly German but also British, French, Dutch and Spanish. We were a family of 2 adults and 2 children, the children loved the evening mini disco and entertainment (which was OK, typical of this sort of places), enjoyed the mini club (lasts for about 1/2 h in morning and same in the afternoon, usually quite basic stuff such as making arts and crafts etc. although they prepared and put an evening Grease show on for parents one day), enjoyed the swimming pool and made lots of friends. Our apartment was quite basic but as we were staying on an all inclusive basis and not really using the apartment cooking facilities, it was not an issue for us. Very friendly service throughout, good facilities, very large choice and excellent quality of food. We would return in an instant. The area is spectacular, (view over Mount Teide from bedroom and over la Gomera from front of hotel) and an excellent base for exploring the West and North of the island, including Mount Teide and Loro Parque, Masca and for a whale watching cruise from los Gigantes, a very nice resort although somewhat pretty hilly (not an issue for us). All in all, fabulous!
Greg Watson, Glasgow Scotland
Other
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
02 January 2006
The Barcelo Varadero is in a quiet, relaxed resort suitable for couples and the more mature traveller. It is situated at the extremity of the resort. If you exit the hotel and turn left then there is nothing, except a very, very long walk to Playa San Juan. If you turn right then you walk to Playa de Arena (5-10 minutes) where there is a small beach, kept spotlessly clean, with sunbeds at 2 Euro each and lifeguard etc, some restaurants, shops and some bars (the liveliest of which would be the Blarney Stone and the Highland Paddy). If you continue to walk then another 5-10 minutes takes you into Puerto Santiago. This is the older part of the resort. There is a very small beach that no one uses, except the locals who swim off it, a few shops and few bars. If you continue to walk up a steep incline then you get to the main shopping area that is centred on the Vigilia Complex. Again a few bars and restaurants. You can head down to where the Barcelo Santiago is and there are a few more shops and bars there. If you continue along the front/main road, without heading off to the Barcelo Santiago, you come to the end of Puerto Santiago and can turn left into Los Gigantes. This is down a very steep hill (it is hard work walking back up it). Los Gigantes, also known as the 'village', is livelier then any other parts of this resort. There is a marina. There are two lidos. There are more restaurants and bars. It is, however, very British, which is good or bad depending on your point of view. To walk from Barcelo Varadero to Los Gigantes will take 40 - 60 minutes and whether you walk back depends on how fit you feel.
The bus service is excellent. The 473 (connects Los Gigantes to Los Christianos and goes through Torviscas and Play de la Americas) runs about every 20 minutes. It costs 1.25 Euro from Playa de la Arena into Los Gigantes. A taxi costs about 3 Euro. It costs 3 Euro from Barcelo Varaderos to Torviscas. A taxi costs about 15. A taxi from the hotel to the Airport (south) will cost 38 Euro (although you can get a cheaper deal in the DVD shop at the front of the hotel)
The hotel Barcelo Varadero is 3 star. This is deserved and it is good. The pool is small and the sunbathing area doesn't catch the very early morning sun or the late evening sun because of the building. There is a reasonable fitness room. There is an indoor and an outdoor bar. There is entertainment, which is either indoors or outdoors, depending upon the time of season. Ther
phil karnavas, canterbury/england
Mature Couple (36+)
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Review of 'BARCELO VARADERO'
18 December 2005
The Varadero is a very good standard 3 star aparthotel.We are a family of four,two teenagers a boy 14yrs and a girl 12 yrs.This was a cheap wnter break for 1 week 9th -16th December.
The Varadero was decked out for Christmas and looked very attractive especially at night.
Reception - spacious, clean, comfy sofas and plenty info books.
Staff very friendly and extremely helpful.
accomodation - spacious clean apartment with one bedroom and sofa beds for the kids.spacious balcony (most overlook a pool )
there are five pools plus two waterfalls.adequate storage and
cooking facilities including a cooker.Only downside was the boiler which did not hold sufficient hot water for four to shower.
Facilities - pools are great cleaned and checked daily.gardens are immaculate as is all of the site.Two pool bars one large serving a good range of food at lunchtimes and thoughout the day.Football and tennis court,shiffle board, darts, shooting,archery,volley ball and more so there is plenty to do.
Being self catering we ate out at evenings but others stated that the food in the restaurant was excellent.
Entertainment on evenings was of a reasonable standard and the
Barcelo reps worked very hard plus a few professional acts turned up.
being a winter holiday notmany kids the same age as mine so they
missed having some mates.Ofcourse in summer this would not be a problem as many more would be there.The place was also fully booked for christmas and new year.
This is a good hotel sited on the edge of playa de la arena.access to most places is pretty easy.A car is a boon but not a necessity.Plenty to do around and about and the beach there has a blue flag.
summing up overall, we would certainly recommend this hotel.
finally thanks to Alpha rooms booking with them was even cheaper than booking with Barcelo themselves - beware Alpha we will be back for more great deals - many thanks we had a great time.
geoff inskip, birtley county durham england
Family with teenagers 12+
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